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BGAN Best Practices

Stretch your bandwidth dollar. Find out how to maximize your BGAN performance and control your usage costs. Take care of any concerns that may arise before you leave. Set up and test your unit prior to your departure. In addition to the User Guide included with your product, our technical support team is available between 9-5pm EST Monday through Friday. We can assist you with your BGAN terminal set up, software installation, use of the product and we'll answer any other questions or problems you may have. Call us at 1 888-622-7368 or 905-272-5665.

Performance maximization

When using your BGAN terminal, you must have an open view of the sky, with no obstructions such as tall buildings, trees or mountains between the antenna and satellite. Clouds, fog, rain, snow, wind and smoke will not negatively impact reception and call quality.

Note that it may take several minutes to obtain a GPS fix and obtain good signal strength. Refer to your User Guide for details.

Cost control

Please remember when you use BGAN service, you pay for all data that is sent and received from your laptop in 50KB increments. So, you could be billed for 50KB when you only use 10KB. Don't log in repeatedly to send individual emails. A better option would be to save your emails as drafts then log on to send them all at once. In some cases, you may be paying for activity you are unaware of. Below are some tips to help reduce unnecessary data transfers and manage your satellite usage costs.

1. Disable any automatic updates so you don't pay for non-essential information like Windows system updates, antivirus updates and more.
2. Do not leave web pages open while you are working in other applications or while your laptop is unattended. If they refresh at timed intervals, you're paying for it.
3. Minimize use of streaming media* or even better, disable multimedia options in your web browser. Video, music and voice applications use significant data.
4. Use client-based email instead of webmail. Using webmail like Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo can be 10 to 20 times more expensive than Outlook, Eudora or Entourage.
5. Enable WEPKEY for Wi-Fi networks. Some terminals, such as the Hughes HNS 9201 and the Thrane & Thrane 700 have Wi-Fi enabled by default with no security. Other people may use and rack up charges on your satellite network connection. If you want to use Wi-Fi, secure it with WEPKEY, if not disable the Wi-Fi feature. Refer to the user guide for details about security encryption standards.
6. Minimize sending and downloading large files. This includes photos and graphics.

There are further mechanisms for controlling your costs like usage alerts and usage thresholds. Find out more about cost control with value added features.

Thank you for choosing Roadpost. If after consulting the User Guide, you have questions or require support please contact our Customer Care team.

*Roadpost's BGAN rentals do not support the 32, 64, 128 and 256 kbps dedicated streaming feature. All data usage is provided through standard IP.